Addicted to Disney
Caz is addicted to anything Disney, Wayne is her husband aka Mr Disney gets dragged along to all the Parks and shows and doesn't like to admit he is a Stitch Fan.
Join us as we share our experiences and thoughts on anything related to Disney from Disney Parks, and Disney Cruises, to Collectables and anything else made by the Mouse.
Addicted to Disney
Disney Parks and Cruises: Tips, Tricks, and Magical Updates for UK Visitors
Curious about the latest changes in Disney's park experience, or wondering how to make the most out of a Disney cruise? We've got you covered! Join us for our inaugural Addicted to Disney live stream turned into a podcast as we navigate the exciting transition from Genie Plus to Lightning Lane Plus, especially from the perspective of our UK visitors. We also give you a sneak peek into our upcoming adventures at Walt Disney World and Disney cruising. Plus, we share crucial tips for a smooth check-in process and discuss our thoughts thoughts on Disney's ever-evolving systems.
But that's not all! We'll chat about everything from the introduction of Magic Band Pluses on Disney cruises to the delightful traditions of fish extenders and pixie dusting. Hear about our own experiences with the Disney Vacation Club, particularly our love for the Riviera resort, and get our advice on planning a cruise, especially for families with special needs. And let's not forget the excitement over unique Disney treats like Pog Juice and Gelato! As we wrap up our live broadcast, we reflect on the journey, share our joy for all things Disney, and invite you to connect with us on future adventures through our social media channels. Get ready for a magical ride!
Caz and Wayne are Addicted to Disney, a podcast about the ups and downs of Disney trips, from Parts to Cruises we will try it all.
Caz collects Disney Ears, Characters and Loungefly bags. Wayne likes cameras.
Hello, we're live. I think we're live, I think we're live.
Speaker 2:I think it says we're live. Well, it says live 13, 14 seconds. Oh, I think I've pressed the right button.
Speaker 1:Hi everyone, welcome to Addicted to Disney. Live from our Addicted Disney HQ.
Speaker 2:Well, it's not our HQ, it's the studio, it's the studio of fun.
Speaker 1:I'm Kaz, I'm the voice and the face of Addicted Disney day of fun. Um, I'm kaz, I'm the voice and the face of it's a disney. And uh, this is mr disney. Um, okay, I went.
Speaker 2:Okay, mr disney, okay that makes me sound like I work for disney. I don't work for disney I'm not official disney, I'm just the, the husband so this is us experimenting?
Speaker 1:I think is I think.
Speaker 2:I think the case is, yes, experimenting, so experimenting. So the first question is can anyone out there hear us? If you can hear us just wave, or actually waving, won't work, will it?
Speaker 1:No, you can just drop a comment that you can hear us. That'd be great.
Speaker 2:Yeah, because at the moment we don't know if it's all working. It should be working, who knows.
Speaker 1:It might be working. We're planning to do these initially once a month, aren't we? Are you Okay? I think so, yeah, and the idea is we're going to be talking all things Disney from Disney gossip, disney news, what's coming up for Addicted to Disney?
Speaker 2:So what are we going to talk about?
Speaker 1:What we're going to talk about. First, let's talk about-.
Speaker 2:She's got the list.
Speaker 1:Is what's happening in the world of Disney. Now, I don't know how many of you have been following social media events and seeing posts, but there's been a lot happening at Disney recently.
Speaker 2:What's happening at Disney.
Speaker 1:What's happening at Disney? Well, first up, they're getting rid of the Genie Plus system.
Speaker 2:That's not good.
Speaker 1:Actually no, because they're changing it now to Lightning Lane Plus.
Speaker 2:Is that better?
Speaker 1:It's slightly better in that you can pre-book, like on the old Fastpass systems that Walt Disney World had. You could pre-book up to three attractions per day. However, there is a caveat to it, and that is if you're going to be going to Walt Disney World from the UK. Unlike people who live in the US, who can book it up to seven days in advance, we can't order it and book it until we get there that's not fair no, it's not fair really.
Speaker 2:I know I have a solution to the problem, though.
Speaker 1:What's that?
Speaker 2:We just have to go there for longer.
Speaker 1:Yeah, we do have to go there longer. Okay, when we go.
Speaker 2:Well, you were the one who was booking it yesterday.
Speaker 2:Okay, I was booking it yesterday, so Disney are introducing Lightning Lane Plus and it comes probably linked to your physical gps location on your phone, as all the disney parky stuff is. So I think at the moment we're just going to have to live with it, and Disney are changing lots of things. The nice thing is Disney do have this habit of listening to people when they complain enough. So if you don't like it, I think if people are not happy with the Genie Plus situation, then by all means talk about it on social media, talk to CMs, talk to Disney. When you talk to Disney, they will eventually hopefully listen and eventually, hopefully, we will actually get some changes. It's new, they're testing stuff.
Speaker 1:Hopefully they'll change in our benefit. We're going to give it a test when we go out in September. Anyway, yeah, we are going out in September.
Speaker 2:September, and it might have changed by then, who knows.
Speaker 1:Speaking of September, we're also going on a Disney cruise in a few weeks, and this is where a lot of the questions and what's. This is like a big area I'm going to talk about today Disney cruises Because a lot of us are going on Disney cruises from the UK. As you know, the Disney Dream and she's due to dock in Southampton in two weeks' time for the first time this year, so we're all getting a bit excited.
Speaker 2:But there are things that we need to start getting prepared for, like the infamous check-in process.
Speaker 1:Check-in is that the thing where you get up at five o'clock in the morning. That is the thing. Yes, guys, checking in for a disney cruise from the uk is fun because they do check-in from 12 midnight, but that is midnight american time. So, guys, anyone going on the disney cruise from southampton in the coming weeks, in the coming months, be prepared to set your alarm for 5 am, because that's what time checking opens, especially if you want a decent port arrival time. Your check-in window will be on your booking If you go into your booking.
Speaker 2:It was a big delay there. Yeah, I think when is your check-in window.
Speaker 1:It will be on your booking and it will show your check-in window. Now this is guaranteed and selected by your Castaway Club member. Now, if you don't know what Castaway Club is, once you've done more than one Disney cruise, you become a Castaway Club member and you become silver.
Speaker 2:Yes, and then you'll stay silver for 100 years.
Speaker 1:You're gold according to the app.
Speaker 2:Yes, just a little bit of the backstory there. We've done enough cruises now to become gold, but for some reason disney's app decides that I'm still silver I still get the benefits of being gold, but it just says that I am silver. So, disney, please sort it out.
Speaker 1:I don't like being silver, I want to be pearl or something else so, yeah, so you need to set your alarm clocks for at least half past four in the morning, be on your computer, ready to go, and then we get the fun and games of embarkation day, which is going to be quite exciting because it's also a bit of a whirlwind. And just be advised that when you do your check-in you're going to pick your port arrival time. Now, guys, that is what time you get to the port to get on the boat. I've seen too many posts recently going what time does the boat arrive at the port and what time can I get on the ship? The boat actually gets to the port. If you want to go see it, come in. You need to be there early, because on the last sailing we did, we docked at Port Cranwell at 4.45 in the morning.
Speaker 1:So my advice if you're going to do a Disney cruise, do a Disney cruise. Uk sailors, get cruise. Doing this cruise, uk sailors, get ready. The fun is going to start soon. And yeah, your port arrival time. You get to the port, you drop your cases, go through airport security and before you know it, you'll be on that ship and the fun really does start ladies and gentlemen, please welcome onto the disney cruise olaf olaf, they do things like that they do.
Speaker 1:You will get announced when you go on the ship.
Speaker 2:So yeah, you definitely get announced going on the ship. So, yeah, disney cruises. I think we need to do a live stream at some point just covering Disney cruises and talking about our experiences.
Speaker 1:I think the August one needs to be Disney cruises. What else has been happening in the world of Disney? If you are going to walk Disney World in the next couple guys, be prepared. There's going to be no shows in front of the stage because they're getting ready for mickey's not so scary halloween party, so no shows no, no castle no castle shows, because they're getting the stage ready for mickey's, not so scary okay, when does mickey not so scary run?
Speaker 1:mickey's not so scary parties start beginning of august oh and they're on a tuesday, a friday and a saturday and what is mic's?
Speaker 2:Not so Scary.
Speaker 1:Mickey's Not so Scary Halloween Party is an after hours event that is extra ticketed in the Magic Kingdom. So on the days the event runs, the Magic Kingdom will be shut in at six, but you can go in for four o'clock with your after hours ticket. And then you've got the rides are open, you've got extra shows, including Hocus Pocus, which I'm looking forward to watching. You have Jack Skellington's Halloween fireworks, so there'll be no happy ever after the days of the party, and then you go trick or treating.
Speaker 2:Does that involve chocolate?
Speaker 1:That involves chocolate. Yep, you get given a goodie bag and you go to the trick or treat point so you can get lots and lots of candy and chocolate.
Speaker 2:And chocolate, and more chocolate, and more chocolate.
Speaker 1:And it's going to be.
Speaker 2:But we won't be live streaming from the event because Disney doesn't like live streamers. At the moment They've been throwing people out of the park for live streaming because you're not supposed to do it. It spoils it for other people. You can video, but don't live stream from a park.
Speaker 1:We have a question.
Speaker 2:I'd love to know what kind of shopping is available on the cruises. Well, it's quite similar to Disney parks, but it's probably more related to if you've ever been to any of the deluxe resorts where the the contents are a little bit higher up the scale. So, lounge flies all over the place, doonies all over the place spirit jerseys plushies pins, you name it. They have them on the ships and they tend to be very cruise orientated, so there'll be bags that are cruising bags. There'll be lounge flies.
Speaker 1:Disney ears.
Speaker 2:Disney ears and more Disney ears.
Speaker 1:If you're doing a specific sailing, like we're doing the European sailings, there will actually be a European merch. We're doing the Disney Dream of Europe cruises this year, so there are going to be Disney Dream of Europe's T-shirts, ears, hoodies, spirit jerseys, pins, all sorts of things, Because they do try and have specific merch on board relating to the cruises. But you also get your normal, your spirit jerseys, your lounge flies, and also Disney cruises now are using Magic Band Pluses. You can actually use your Magic Band. If you've got Magic Band Plus from Walt Disney World, you can have it linked to your cruise account. You can actually use that on the ship to open your stateroom and charge stuff to it. He doesn't know I can charge stuff to my Magic Band though.
Speaker 2:I do know you can charge stuff to the Magic Band. I just have to hide the credit cards. The Revolut cards.
Speaker 1:So what else?
Speaker 2:are we going? We can talk about something that we actually mentioned in the trailer to this, which was the fact that we've cancelled a Disney cruise.
Speaker 1:Yeah, shock horror.
Speaker 2:We cancelled a Disney cruise too.
Speaker 1:We cancelled the Disney cruise. We were going to be doing a sale in next January to Lighthouse Point at Lookout Key, which is Disney's new Bahama resort. We've done Castaway Cay.
Speaker 2:It's posh.
Speaker 1:We did Castaway Cay this year, which we really loved, and we're going back. Castaway next year, but we were also going to be doing Lookout Cay at Lighthouse Point. However, we have been watching various reports from the first sailors that have just docked there.
Speaker 2:We've been watching other YouTubers. As YouTubers do, and they seem to have a little bit of an issue with flies.
Speaker 1:Yeah.
Speaker 2:Flies, as in those little nasty black things that fly everywhere, especially over the food.
Speaker 1:It looks a lovely resort, but at the moment, why has it got the issue with the flies?
Speaker 2:It's a case of yeah, it wasn't very appealing and it's also. They actually don't own it. It's shared with some other cruise lines whereas castaway is disney's actual island yeah, so it's not pure disney, it's almost like semi disney, but we have to do other stuff, so it's like, well, yeah, maybe the good news is what we've actually done.
Speaker 2:We've just changed it slightly and we're on a different cruise going to castaway which is really nice and we're going to nassau and castaway again and hopefully by the time, uh, things get sorted out next year or the year after next, the flies have gone, or at least I'm just gonna take a fly swat with me a big fly swat, possibly also because it's brand new.
Speaker 2:they're still sorting things out. There's a few teething problems, but where Castaway Cay is just stunning. If you haven't done Disney Cruise in America that goes to the private island Castaway Cay, you must go. It is stunning, it is pure luxury. It is what you would see Disney doing a Bahamanian.
Speaker 1:Bahaman, bahamanmenian, bahaman, bahamas, and I don't do in the bahamas, so if you, I would actually hardly make a dream. And also, speaking of cruises, what's everything you mentioned? Oh, yeah, I've been making portholes. Um yeah, one thing they do on the cruises is they do fish extenders and pixie dusting, basically and chicken tenders.
Speaker 2:I'll be at chicken tenders in a minute, basically outside your stateroom.
Speaker 1:You've got like a metal hook thing which is on the older ships is the shape of a fish, but on the newer ones we had a carriage this time, didn't we on the wish and you hang a pocket thing outside, you draw in a fish it's in a group and basically you go around and put little goodies in each other's pockets.
Speaker 2:So that sounds really dodgy yeah you're putting little goodies into the pockets that are outside the state room, not into the pockets of people walking past.
Speaker 1:That's not a great idea so if anyone's on the disney dream in august, you might be getting a porthole yeah, kaz has spent the last week making portholes.
Speaker 2:She has a love affair with making portholes. She's got one of these little sticky cutter things, cry, cut and she makes all the fish extenders that she gives away, and at the moment she's making Disney portholes. Anyway, someone's mentioned chicken tenders.
Speaker 1:And yes.
Speaker 2:And there's some news about chicken tenders.
Speaker 1:Anyone that's going on the European salons. You might have seen the report from some of the other salons saying that the chicken tenders yay, and cheese plates, cheese plates.
Speaker 2:You're making me hungry. Now, what else do we have on your list?
Speaker 1:what else do we have on my list? What's the other mad for me did? Last year I had dvc. Did it work for us?
Speaker 2:dvc. Right, what is that I thought we've done? Have we done a video on dvc? No we were going to do video on dvc, but we'll briefly mention what dvc?
Speaker 2:is? Dvc is basically timeshare for Disney. So basically, you pay an awful lot of money to Disney and they give you a timeshare for 30 odd years and you then get a number of points which you could then apply to stay at various Disney resorts. We have a home resort which is Riviera, and Riviera is stunning. Basically, it means that you can stay at Riviera for a number of points, get the benefits of deluxe resorts, and deluxe resorts tend to be a little higher than the value resorts in terms of facilities and service, and also in deluxe resorts.
Speaker 1:on certain nights in some of the parks you get extended hours.
Speaker 2:Yeah, there's a few benefits of buying DVC We've availed ourselves of and, yeah, I think DVC works. If you're going to do probably two disney holidays a year and we don't do holidays for anywhere else, so we do dvc um I I think we do need to sit down and actually write something to say this is what dvc is. There are a few videos out there. They explain how it works. There's a few bits and pieces that sometimes people get caught out with and bear in mind. Also, because it's an american system. It revolves around the way the americans work in terms of paying for things. So if you do it from the uk, you then have to get involved in a little bit of legislation with getting an american um, not necessarily an attorney, but someone to sign off documents. Disney do actually do that for you, and we actually did it on a ship in the middle of the ocean, with really really bad internet.
Speaker 2:Which was entertaining because when I signed the things and then sent stuff off to the bank to make some payments, the bank then sent back and went oh we don't know what this is, can you please confirm using a text message. And it was like I can't get the text message on the boat, so we had to wait a bit and fiddle around, but it worked in the end and we love it. It's working really well for us, for us it works.
Speaker 2:Question for you as you took it from Jennifer Tips for taking your kids' families on a cruise.
Speaker 1:Okay. Tips for taking families on a cruise Young kids don't Young.
Speaker 2:Okay, tips for taking families on a cruise.
Speaker 1:Young kids, don't. Young kids, no, no, no. You don't take any young kids on a cruise, but you can, because they can go on the kids' club all day. Disney Cruise Lines have the best kids' clubs ever you missed the joke.
Speaker 2:All they'll do is they'll sit in the kids' club all day and you'll never see them. Ooh, that's actually. That's quite a good thing, isn't tips?
Speaker 1:for families going on a cruise, number one is don't over plan the cruise says the person who produces a spreadsheet and then the spreadsheet gets changed about that.
Speaker 1:No for the cruises, don't over plan. The ships are huge and I mean they're huge. Don't over plan is my biggest tip for people with families going on the cruise, because there is just so much to do on the ship there's no way you would get it done on your first sailing. Hence why why we did more than one sailing, yeah it's just an excuse to do more than one sailing.
Speaker 1:Number two if you've got children with special needs, my advice would be to watch YouTube channels and YouTube videos. There are a few YouTube channel videos.
Speaker 2:And also talk to Disney themselves.
Speaker 1:And also speak to Disney themselves. They're very caring. Do you know if there?
Speaker 2:will be Fireworks on the Five Night Cruise from Southampton.
Speaker 1:I know the answer to this one. At the moment, it doesn't appear that we're going to be having. Who is that? Is that Laura? That's.
Speaker 2:Laura.
Speaker 1:Laura, unfortunately, from what's coming through from Disney now, it appears that we're not going to be having fireworks. We are having Pirate Night, which is our second night because we're on the same cruise as you. However, it appears that we probably won't be having fireworks. Apparently it's changed for this year, unfortunately. So yeah, it's a bit of a disappointment. No doubt there'll probably be a deck show of some description going on at the moment. That's as much information that's coming through from disney.
Speaker 1:I am keeping an ear to the ground and keeping an eye on various socials to see what else when we get on the ship and their fireworks, we'll let you know yeah, if there are going to be fireworks, it will show on the navigator app, which totally takes a new meaning when you get on board, anyways okay, so we've done chicken tenders, we've done chicken tenders soft serve ice cream soft serve ice cream, although you've just what's?
Speaker 2:this pog juice ice cream thing that you've just discovered?
Speaker 1:that's it. The riviera is pog latte. Those of you who've never heard of pog juice and that includes at least one crew member is basically this is pineapple.
Speaker 2:No, it's not pineapple it's papaya passion fruit juice and guava juice, and it's something that they do. When did we first get it? I?
Speaker 1:first. I first came across it on the disney magic on and on our second site that was at northern europe cruise. They had it in the juice dispensers in Cabamas and they call it Orchard's Finest and it is one of the nicest juices out there that I've ever discovered.
Speaker 2:I quite like it. We've sort of discovered how to make it in the UK, because you can't buy it in the UK.
Speaker 1:Secrets.
Speaker 2:I didn't tell them how to make it. No, that's true. I said we could make it.
Speaker 1:And I've recently discovered and I'm going to be going on the Explore when we're next at the Riviera that you can now get Pog Gelato. So watch this space because no doubt I'll be doing a review on the channel.
Speaker 2:That sounds nearly as bad as I think the ultimate probably would be Pog Doll Whip. Anyway, what else do we have on our list, Because time is ticking?
Speaker 1:Because this was just basically a test to see if it worked. Looking at the response and the views, I think it has worked.
Speaker 2:I think it has worked. I think it has. Hopefully next one will be better. We're experimenting, we are experimenting.
Speaker 1:There aren't many community channels such out there. We are both totally and utterly nuts on Disney, where I am anyway. He just gets dragged along.
Speaker 2:I just get dragged along.
Speaker 1:And then he goes and finds Olaf. Olaf's lovely yeah, so anyone watching who's going to be on the dream cruise, I'm going to come and say hi come and say hi, come and find me.
Speaker 2:Come and say hi she'll be the one running around the camera going no, that's a certain other person it's a short and sweet live.
Speaker 1:Sorry if we've waffled. If we've waffled, I apologize. If I we've covered some of the questions and hopefully this is going to work.
Speaker 2:Who knows, it's a test. It's a test indeed, so thank you all I'll listen to the playback and sit there cringing and going why on earth? Did. I do this, and we're actually going to make this into a video and probably chop it down and produce it as a podcast, and this will be edited down to sit on the channel. So if you've missed us, why did you miss us?
Speaker 1:We the channel. So if you've missed us, why did you miss us? We are going to try and be consistent. Try and do this one, try to be a bit more organized next time, and a bit more organized.
Speaker 2:We were still discussing whether to do this yesterday.
Speaker 1:We're still discussing whether to do this.
Speaker 2:Three hours ago. No, that was the point where I'd already told people we were doing it, so anyway, but thank you all for watching.
Speaker 1:Yes, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you if you like the channel, then give me a subscribe down below and also come and find me on facebook thumbs up and thumbs up and subscribing and come and find me on facebook and I'll see you on the next one. If you don't see me on the next one, if you're going to be on the dream in august, I'll see you on board yes and uh yeah, thanks for watching bye.
